Chapter 182 - 175: One Sword Rules Life and Death, the Solitary Dao Bears Yin and Yang

Divine Techniques are, in essence, methods for applying the Heaven and Earth Law.

If techniques that approach divinity are but a crude application of the Heaven and Earth Law—like an infant swinging a sledgehammer, possessing great strength but no technique...

...then Divine Techniques are combat methods formed by meticulously carving and repeatedly tempering the Power of Law.

They possess a complete cultivation system and a clear path for advancement.

A Cultivator of Divine Techniques has a degree of control over the Heaven and Earth Law far surpassing those at the peak of Foundation Establishment or the Golden Peak, who can only use it 'instinctively'.

The latter's methods are, at best, merely introductory exercises for Divine Techniques—transitional means used at a Low Tier to lay the groundwork for future cultivation of such techniques.

Take, for example, Dark Heavy Water in relation to Beiming True Water.

Beiming True Water is said to be profound and obscure, deep and dark, capable of absorbing all the waters of the world.

This is not an exaggeration.

Beiming True Water is one of the premier Divine Techniques of the Golden Core Stage.

In offense, it can transform into a monstrous wave to crush enemy lines.

In defense, it can form an abyssal Water Curtain that swallows all attacks.

What is even more profound is Beiming True Water's ability to 'absorb water'.

It can devour Water Attribute attacks released by an enemy, converting them into nourishment to strengthen itself.

If an enemy is dragged into its waters, it can use the water's power to drain their Life Force and Magical Power, causing them to sink into silent oblivion with no chance to even struggle.

This is the true meaning of being 'able to absorb all the waters of the world'.

If Dark Heavy Water's essence lies in the word 'heavy'—a single drop possessing immense weight, using brute force to overcome finesse...

...then Beiming True Water's essence lies in 'momentum.' It does not win through brute force, but by using the vast power of water to trap, erode, and annihilate its foes.

The former is like a mountain, the latter like the sea.

Their power is on completely different tiers.

At this thought, Anton settled back into a cross-legged position and sank his consciousness into his Dantian.

With the Golden Core formed, his Qi Sea was no longer what it once was.

The lustrous, glass-like Pill Fruit rested in its depths, rotating slowly. With each turn, a fine, five-colored radiance seeped from the Pill Body's surface, flowing like starlight in a vacuum.

This radiance was then swiftly reabsorbed by the Pill Body in a continuous, self-sustaining cycle.

This was Magical Power.

Upon closer inspection, one could also see a faint, five-colored mist, like a hazy vapor, enveloping the Golden Core.

This was Pill Poison.

After a Cultivator successfully solidifies their pill, they must gradually convert the Pill Poison surrounding the Golden Core into Magical Power to advance further.

During this process, a Golden Core Cultivator's Magical Power steadily grows.

Since Pill Poison is also known as the shell of the Golden Core, this process is called breaking the Shell Barrier.

The higher the grade of the Golden Core, the more Pill Poison there is, and the harder it is to break the Shell Barrier.

However, once they succeed, the amount of Magical Power they can wield increases proportionally, as does the power of their Divine Techniques and Taoist Skills.

A Cultivator who breaks the Shell Barrier becomes a Golden Core Second Stage Cultivator.

After that, successfully condensing a Magical Power True Seal allows one to advance to the Golden Core Third Stage.

And above that is the Nascent Soul realm.

However, for Anton, who had just achieved his breakthrough, both breaking the Shell Barrier and condensing a Magical Power True Seal were still distant goals.

He reined in his thoughts, focusing his consciousness on the few drops of Dark Heavy Water floating silently above his Qi Sea.

With a mere thought, the drops of Dark Heavy Water leaped from his Dantian and hovered above his palm.

He took a deep breath and began to execute the refinement technique for Beiming True Water.

Magical Power surged from his Golden Core, flowing through his meridians into his palm. It enveloped each drop of Dark Heavy Water, fusing with it.

Anton had long ago comprehended the cultivation method for Beiming True Water. Furthermore, he had Dark Heavy Water, which shared the same origin, to act as a seed. Thus, despite a few stumbles, the refinement process went smoothly.

As Magical Power flooded in, the dark droplets of water expanded at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Simultaneously, its color began to change.

It was no longer the jet black of dark jade, but a deeper, more mysterious hue that seemed to devour light itself.

Before long, a silent, desolate expanse of water had formed around Anton.

The water was vast and remote, its currents powerful, yet it was not turbulent like the deep sea. Instead, it was eerily calm and heavy, utterly silent and still.

Yet a closer look gave the impression of a profound and boundless void, an illusion that it could swallow heaven, earth, and all creation.

Anton gazed at the dark waters surrounding him, a faint smile gracing his lips.

'Although it's still just a prototype, nowhere near the true Beiming True Water, its power already far surpasses that of Dark Heavy Water.'

'Now I have another powerful ace up my sleeve.'

'And this ace has plenty of room to grow.'

'Once I've mastered its cultivation, its power probably won't be much inferior to my Flying Sword Skill.'

Snapping out of his elation, Anton withdrew the nascent Beiming True Water, returning it to his Dantian to be nourished by his Magical Power.

His gaze then fell upon the Sword Pill before him, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.

If every Divine Technique represents one of the Heaven and Earth Laws, and its ultimate evolution is a form of the Dao...

...then the Sword Dao is, likewise, a form of the Dao.

Among all cultivation methods, the 'sword' has always held a unique and exalted status.

It is not merely a weapon, nor a lesser Technique, but a 'Great Dao' that points directly to the source of heaven and earth.

A Cultivator uses a Sword Pill to sense the spiritual workings of the world, comprehends the profound principles of the Great Dao through Sword Intent, and manifests the transformations of yin and yang through their sword light.

The pinnacle of the Sword Dao is not a faster or sharper sword, but sword light that embodies a profound understanding and application of the Heaven and Earth Law.

One sword to command life and death; a lonely path to bear yin and yang.

This phrase illuminates the true essence of the Sword Dao.

'One sword to command life and death' means that a Sword Cultivator's very existence is tied to their sword.

This doesn't mean a Sword Cultivator relies on only a physical blade, but that their entire Cultivation Level, will, and Dao heart are condensed into a single Sword Pill.

If the sword lives, they live; if the sword dies, they die.

More importantly, when a Sword Cultivator draws their sword, they are 'commanding life and death' on behalf of the heavens and earth—with a single strike, the enemy's fate is sealed.

This absolute control over 'life and death' makes the Sword Dao one of the cultivation paths closest to the fundamental Laws of the universe.

'A lonely path to bear yin and yang,' on the other hand, reveals a deeper philosophical meaning within the Sword Dao.

The Sword Dao is a lonely path.

Sword Cultivators do not rely on external aids or complex Magical Treasures; they walk the world depending on nothing but the sword in their hand.

Yet this 'lonely path' can 'bear yin and yang'.

Here, yin and yang does not refer merely to the two primal energies, but to the three thousand great Daos.

According to the numerous texts within the Taoist Jade Scroll, the Sword Dao is broadly divided into three paths, based on the Laws they embody and the practitioner's understanding of the Dao.

The first is the Path of the Killing Sword.

Of the three, this path is the most 'vicious'.

Its core tenet is 'one sword flies, nothing remains uncut'.

It does not seek flashy variations, only absolute killing power.

A master of the Killing Sword cares not for your thousand Magical Treasures or ten thousand Divine Techniques; with a single strike, all will be shattered.

The essence of the Killing Sword is, in fact, the pure comprehension of the Life and Death Law.

For example, the Path of the Killing Sword includes a Divine Technique called the 'Sword of Final Thought'.

It is said to slay an enemy in the space of a single thought.

This is not a physical kill, but the act of deciding an opponent's life or death the moment the thought arises. It already touches upon the very source of the Life and Death Law.

'If I had to describe it,' Anton thought, 'this Divine Technique is somewhat similar to the Magic spell 'Finger of Death'.'

If the enemy's soul and will are not strong enough, they die instantly upon confrontation.

Of course, the Sword of Final Thought is countless tiers higher than Finger of Death.

Another such technique is 'Spirit-Severing Annihilation'.

It can sever all spiritual connections within a radius of a thousand zhang.

With one strike, all techniques of concealment, duplication, and transformation are exposed and utterly annihilated.

This, too, is an application of the Life and Death Law, only its target isn't a sentient being.

The second path of the Sword Dao is the Path of the Extreme Sword.

The Path of the Extreme Sword follows a different principle: pushing speed to its absolute limit.

Its combat philosophy is, 'In all of martial arts, only speed is unbeatable'.

As long as my sword is fast enough, your defense is useless.

As long as my movement is fast enough, you can't catch me.

It pursues the absolute initiative to 'fight when I want and leave when I want'.

The core Divine Technique of the Extreme Sword, 'Heaven and Earth as Neighbors,' pushes speed to an incredible level.

No matter where a wisp of sword light travels, as long as it remains within this world, the cultivator can instantly teleport to its location.

This means that a practitioner of the Extreme Sword can ignore spatial distance, teleporting from one end of a battlefield to the other in a single thought, or even appear at the locations of multiple sword lights simultaneously.

Another Divine Technique, 'So Close, Yet So Far,' exemplifies the manipulation of spatial distance.

With a single thought, the sword light can instantly appear hundreds of zhang away, rendering distance meaningless.

The enemy has no time to react before the attack arrives.

Both 'Heaven and Earth as Neighbors' and 'So Close, Yet So Far' have clearly touched upon the core of the Space Law.

The final path for a Sword Cultivator is the Path of the Transformation Sword.

The Path of the Transformation Sword follows yet another different route from the Killing and Extreme Sword paths.

Its core principle is the splitting of sword light.

From a single Sword Pill, it splits into two, four, eight... and eventually thousands, even tens of thousands of streams of sword light.

Once the sword formation is unleashed, it blankets the sky, an unstoppable tempest of blades.

It might seem identical to the Light Splitting and Reunification technique Anton is currently cultivating, but their essences are fundamentally different.

The sword light created by Light Splitting and Reunification is just that—sword light. It is merely a weapon for attacking.

But with the Transformation Sword, every stream of sword light is like an independent Magical Treasure, capable of attacking, defending, and casting Taoist Skills and Divine Techniques on its own.

At its deepest levels, it can create hundreds of millions of sword lights, trillions of starlike glimmers, and can even fuse a thousand Taoist Skills to produce infinite, wondrous applications.

Its ultimate goal is to achieve 'One Sword, Ten Thousand Techniques'.

The Path of the Transformation Sword has no specific Divine Techniques of its own; rather, when cultivated to a profound level, each individual stream of sword light can be infused with other Taoist Skills and Divine Techniques.

In a sense, the Path of the Transformation Sword is itself a Divine Technique.

In summary, the three paths of the Sword Cultivator represent three different understandings of the Great Dao.

The Killing Sword represents the Life and Death Law.

The Extreme Sword represents the Space Law.

And the Transformation Sword represents inclusivity—one becoming ten thousand, fusing all techniques into one.

The three paths, though different, lead to the same destination: the understanding and application of the Great Dao of heaven and earth.

By comparison, however, the Killing Sword and Extreme Sword pursue a singular, ultimate focus.

The Transformation Sword, on the other hand, pursues the infinite possibilities contained within endless change.

This was the main reason Anton had initially chosen to cultivate the 'Starlit Chessboard Sword Scripture' and walk the Path of the Transformation Sword.

'Of course, I don't intend to give up on the other two paths either.'

'To reach the highest realm of the Sword Dao, the 'Heart Sword' level, it's impossible to succeed by cultivating only a single path.'

'Only by merging all three paths is there any hope of touching that realm.'